Crazicards Crafty Blog

This weeks just for fun ATC challenge is "Music"

Unfortunately I didn't have as much time to spend on this as I would have liked but I thought it was a quick and fun ATC to make.

To make this ATC I stamped a watch face several times in Momento Tuxedo Black Ink over the front of the ATC.

I then made some simple masks to cover the watch faces whilst I stamped music in Archival Sepia ink over the rest of the ATC.

Then using Tim Holtz Distress Tea Dye ink and some Ranger Cut n Dry Foam I covered the whole ATC and left it to dry.

Once the ink was completely dry I removed the masks and coloured in the watch faces with Promarkers and then covered them with Glossy Accents.

Once this was dry I added the ATC back and there you have it, an effective looking ATC which is very quick and simple to make. Perfect for a weekly challenge ATC.

I am looking forward to next weeks fun challenge, if you would like to join in please pop over to the swap group on Facebook here . The new weekly swap theme will be posted every Saturday afternoon.

Until next time. Happy Crafting xx

Last weeks launch of the Crazicards Weekly ATC Challenge was a great success and the ATC's submitted ranged from the absolutely scary to really cute.

This is just a fun challenge to pass the time as the nights draw in and winter descends upon us and this weeks Challenge is "Music".

If you would like to join in the Crazicards weekly swap please feel free to pop on over to my Facebook group here , everyone is welcome and the more the merrier.

I have also been busy preparing November's tutorial which will be a Christmas acetate card this time around. So keep your eye open for that later this week.

Right back to the October's ATC swap.  The theme was "Home & Family" and as always the swaps are all absolutely fabulous. I received a total of 30 fantastic ATC's, take a look at them all below...

Well done ladies I can't wait to see next months swaps.

Until next time Happy Crafting :O) xx

Oh My Goodness........... Can you believe that is is only "58" days until Christmas Day....

So much to do and so little time, before we know it, it will be Christmas week and the scurry of frantic feet will be heard in every craft room across the land as we all whizz around trying to get those last minutes Christmas Cards finished.

Or if you are really Crafty all those gorgeous handmade Christmas gifts need to be finished off and wrapped up ready to go to their new homes.

This week I have been busy preparing next months tutorial which just happens to be a lovely acetate Christmas card. So keep your eyes peeled for that next week..

And as it's almost time for Christmas I will be adding Christmas Card tutorials on a regular basis from next week onwards until Christmas week. So if you craft along with me until then you will have made at least 8 more Christmas cards.

Have a great weekend.

Until next time Happy Crafting xx

Over at Crazicards swap group on Facebook things have been pretty busy with the monthly ATC, Tag and Postcard swaps. And there have been some fantastic swaps over the past 3 months.

As the winter nights draw in and we start to see more and more cold rainy days we decided to started a "just for fun" weekly ATC challenge.  This challenge is for those of the group that have spare time on their hands during the gap between the monthly swaps. And a different theme is set each week.

This week Pauline chose the theme of Halloween and here is my entry :

I really enjoyed making this ATC. Especially the little broomstick which was made out of a little twig from the garden.

I started off by making a round mask to create a moon which I attached to the ATC with photo glue so that it can be easily removed afterwards.

I then took some cotton wool and a Tim Holtz Spiced Marmalade distress ink pad and padded it onto the ATC, I also added a little Scattered Straw and Rusty Hinge to add a little atmosphere. I then used a fine mister to add a little water over the top.

Once that was all dry I decided to draw a tombstone for the broomstick to lean upon. I did this with my Promarkers and because I used shiny card stock the Promarkers gave the tombstone a little marble effect in places.

I then removed the moon mask and coloured slightly with Scattered Straw distress ink before I stamped the crooked tree ranch from the Sheena Douglass "Trees" stamp plate.

I then stamped the Black cat and a few small silhouette flowers and added the word BOO which I coloured with my Promarkers.

To finish off I glued the broomstick to the front using 3D Glue and used a fine liner to draw a tiny spider and web.

I am looking forward to the next weekly swap which starts tomorrow.

If you would like to join in with the Crazicards Swaps please visit my group on Face book here the new swap theme will be posted there tomorrow afternoon.

You don't have to be an expert crafter so come on over and join in the fun. I look forward to seeing you soon.

Until next time Happy Crafting  xx

Well at the ripe old age of 70 my mum decided that she wanted to move house again. Rather her than me is all I can say although I must admit I will glad when the day arrives that we can pack up and move to the seaside, when that will be is another rather long story which I won't bore you with today. I don't want you all falling a sleep now do I!!

Anyway I saw a similar card to this is a Chocolate Baroque newsletter so i thought I would give it a go.

I started by creating all my mat and layers using the cuttlebug, spellbinder dies and a sunburst embossing folder.

I used felt card for my base and my main mat as it has a lovely and rich texture. And I also used Black mirror card and plain Gold rainbow holographic card.

I stamped out my image from the Chocolate Baroque Home Sweet Home stamp plate a couple of times and then drew in the horizon and the sun rays before colouring the whole image in using my Letraset AquaMarkers.

Once I put everything together I decided that the trees needed to be decoupaged to give a lift to the image and I think it turned out just great. Mum loved it so I am a happy chappy.

I also made this small card for my sister who lives in Holland with another image from the same stamp plate.


I love this stamp set it is so easy to think of ideas how to use it so I have no doubt at all that I will be using it a lot more...

Until next time Happy Crafting xx.

Continuing on with the theme of sprucing up your craft projects using small but effective features  today I am going to show you how to do the "Spotlight" technique.

What's is Spotlighting? I hear you say... Well by Spotlighting a small area on your project it creates the effect of magnifying that particular area of your project.

  What you will need:

Glass cutting mat
Cuttlebug or similar
Spellbinder circle cutting dies
Low tack tape and 1mm or 2mm foam pads
Stamps of your choice
Memento Tuxedo Black Ink Pad
Clear Wow Powder
Promarkers or other colouring medium
Luxury Felt Card , White card and Black Card
Embellishments of your choice

Step 1

Choose the stamp you want to use for your project and stamp and emboss your image onto White card.

From you Spellbinder circles set select 2 small circles to use on your project, you can use larger circles if you wish, the choice is yours.

You then need to choose which part of your project you want to "Spotlight". I did this by moving my smallest Spellbinder, cutting edge down, around the image until I found the area I wanted to "Spotlight". Once happy I placed 2 small pieces of low tack tape on the edges of the die to hold it in place ready for cutting.

Step 2

Take your Cuttlebug and cut out the small circle from your stamped image.

Then take a small piece of Black card and cut out the largest of the 2 circles. This creates the mat for your stamped cut out.

Step 3
You will then need to colour in your stamped image.

I found the best way to ensure that both the cut out and the main image match is to pop the cut out back into the main image before colouring in.

For my image I used Promarkers to colour in my fairy and I used Sakura pens to glitter the wings and the sash.

I then used a Sakura glaze pen to highlight the flowers and I also glazed the glittered wings.

Step 4

Once you are happy with your image you need to put it all together.

First of all mat and layer your main image onto the main White felt card blank using the Black card.

Stamp your sentiment onto the card front directly, if your not comfortable doing this you can also create a separate sentiment and mat it with the black card also.

To create your "Spotlight" adhere the 2 circles together and use foam pads to lift the circle from the main image slightly.

This gives the illusion that the "Spotlight" area is magnified slightly.

Add your embellishments and your all finished. The key is to keep it clean and simple and not to over embellish.

I hope you enjoy trying out this technique, have fun with it and experiment with different size circles for slightly different effects.

Until next time Happy Crafting xx

I decided to add this new Postcard swap for September just to see how it went.

The theme was chosen by one of the swap group members and was "Positive Affirmations".

I think most of the group found this theme a little more challenging but they rose to the occassion and I am please to say that despite the challenges the theme brought I received a total of 16 Superb Postcards.

I will be continuing on with the new swap format I believe it gives the artist more scope to create a fantastically unique piece of art each month on a larer scale.

The theme for October is "Autumn Glory" so if your interested in joining please visit my swap group on Facebook here we still have a few places left open but not many.

If your not already a member you will need to register and I in turn will forward the details of the swap to you once you accept my friends request. It's as simple as that...

 




A brilliant start to the new Postcard swap, keep up the good work ladies. I can't wait to see next  months swaps :O) xx